My thoughts on the news in Madison, WI:
1. I support the overall objective of Governor Walker's budget repair bill. I voted for him in November because I wanted him to cut through the bullshit and balance the state budget. Former Governor Jim Doyle was too busy kissing the ass of special interest groups, making sweetheart deals and the like to actually do his damn job. The pendulum has swung the other way.
2. I do think the timing of this bill is a bit aggressive, but again, this is why I voted for Walker.
3. I have several friends who are teachers. During the school year, many of them worked more than 40 hours on just the teaching portion, and some coached extra curricular activities, which took more time. Yes, they had three months off in the summer, but I would think that at the end of the tax year, they worked similar hours to someone who worked a "9-5" job.
4. I don't think teachers should be tenured. I can't think of one private sector job that locks someone in for "lifetime" employment. My job is based on my performance; if I can't do my job, I don't have one. I don't think that test scores alone are a basis for rating teacher performance, but I think a bad teacher should be able to be removed.
5. I don't have a pension, or even a 401(k). I have the freedom to choose what to do with my paycheck. Once Holly and I build up our savings, I'm setting up an IRA and making sure *I* take care of my retirement, because no one else is going to do it for me.
6. I want to see the public unions pay more toward health care coverage. We have insurance through my wife's employer and she pays almost 13% of her gross pay for that insurance. Would it kill public sector employess to pay something a little closer to that??
7. Dear people protesting: your rights are not being trampled. Please read this first. I don't see the right to collective bargaining, the right to health care or the right to "insert bullshit thing" here.
8. All of this being said, I really would like to see people come together and discuss these kinds of political matters in a civil manner; however, I fear that time has passed in America.
2 comments:
There a great many teachers that don't agree with the voices of the protestors. In fact, it appears from on the street interviews that some of the teachers don't even know what they are protesting about. It is a lousy state of being when you are forced to pay for something you don't agree with. Give the teachers the right to choose union dues and membership or not, then their "representatives" would actually be representing them.
Good post Chad - but I really think people are getting caught up in the pay issue when the unions really are after the money they stand to lose. This has nothing to do with demeaning public employees. It has everything to do with unions realizing their lucrative cash cow might go away.
Good post, Hohnerdude.
In general, people need to realise that a Union is a business and that the reps want to get paid as much as possible. With that in mind, it becomes clear that they'll only fight for you when your interests and theirs match up; the moment your interests and theirs aren't in line, you can bet they'll throw you under the first bus with a smile on their faces.
Ever notice that Union voices are often the first to decry labour law reforms? Perhaps they realise that the sooner people notice they could stop paying a union if the laws made them obsolete, the sooner they'd all have to find real jobs....
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